The legislature in St. Petersburg, Russia passed its very own "don't say gay" bill today, imposing stiff fines on people or organizations that "promote homosexuality." If signed by the governor, the bill would criminalize pride parades, and much more.

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Rio Novosti reports that the city's Legislative Assembly passed the bill today, mandating a fine of $16,000 for people and up to $160,000 for organizations caught "promoting homosexuality and pedophilia among minors." The law would outlaw pride events, and could presumably be used to prosecute many kinds of LGBT rights advocacy — or even to keep gay couples from adopting kids. As Towleroad points out, the bill has the added bonus of treating consensual adult relationships as though they're the same as child abuse. The governor is likely to sign off on it, meaning it could go into effect in just 10 days.

Similar laws are already in effect in several regions of southern and central Russia, and are being considered in Moscow and nationwide. In November, Valentina Matvienko, chair of Russia's Federation Council and former governor of St. Petersburg, expressed "the need for a nationwide ban on promotion of homosexuality." She added that such a ban was necessary in order to protect children. Nina Ostanina, chair of Committee on Women, Family and Youth, expressed concerns about the St. Petersburg bill but (provided I'm reading the translation correctly) agreed with the need to safeguard children from such dangers as adoption by gay couples. Given that Russia had 700,000 orphans as of 2010, it certainly makes sense to safeguard these children from the hell of being cared for by loving parents who happen to be gay.